Stay on target

When you travel through all of space and time, you’re bound to bump into some famous faces.

In light of the Thirteenth Doctor’s emotional encounter on Sunday with civil rights activist Rosa Parks, here is a look at some of the other historical figures the Time Lord has met in the past.

Marco Polo

“Marco Polo,” 1964

Mark Eden as Marco Polo (via BBC)

When the TARDIS lands in the Himalayas in 1289, the First Doctor (William Hartnell) is picked up by Marco Polo’s (Mark Eden) caravan on its way along the Silk Road to see Emperor Kublai Khan (Martin Miller). Unfortunately, the fourth serial is lost forever, all seven episodes erased by the BBC in 1967.

Napoleon Bonaparte & Maximilien Robespierre

“The Reign of Terror,” 1964

Tony Wall as Napoleon Bonaparte (via BBC)

The First Doctor, his granddaughter Susan Foreman, and teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright arrive outside Paris in 18th-century France, where they witness the coup against Maximilien Robespierre (Keith Anderson) by young Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte (Tony Wall).

Wyatt Earp

“The Gunfighters,” 1966

John Alderson as Wyatt Earp (via BBC)

In search of a dentist in Tombstone, Ariz., the First Doctor meets local marshal Wyatt Earp (John Alderson)—one of the very few real-life Americans to make the Time Lord’s acquaintance. An Old West lawman and professional gambler, teamster, and buffalo hunter, Earp owned several saloons, maintained a brothel, mined for silver and gold, refereed boxing matches, and sported a wicked mustache.

George Stephenson

“Mark of the Rani,” 1985

Gawn Grainger as George Stephenson (via BBC)

Strapped to a trolley atop a cart speeding down a slope to the entrance of the mineshaft, the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) is in trouble. Luckily, George Stephenson (Gawn Grainger) steps in. The “Father of Railways,” Stephenson pioneered rail transport and invented the standard rail gauge.

Charles Dickens

“The Unquiet Dead,” 2005

Simon Callow as Charles Dickens (via BBC)

The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and companion Rose Tyler travel to Victorian Cardiff on Christmas Eve, 1869. They team up with writer Charles Dickens (Simon Callow) to investigate sightings of strange gas-like creatures—not so different from the ghosts in Dickens’ classic stories.

Queen Victoria

“Tooth and Claw,” 2006

Pauline Collins as Queen Victoria (via BBC)

Wandering the Scottish moors in 1879, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose Tyler encounter Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins), who invites the pair to spend the night at the Torchwood Estate. Little do they know the property has been captured by warrior monks who intend to use an alien werewolf to take over the British Empire.

Other royal Doctor Who appearances include Richard the Lionheart (“The Crusade,” 1965), Charles IX and Catherine De Medici (“The Massacre,” 1966), King John I (“The King’s Demons,” 1983), and Charles II (“The Impossible Astronaut,” 2011).

Madame de Pompadour

“The Girl in the Fireplace,” 2006

Sophia Myles as Madame de Pompadour (via BBC)

When the TARDIS materializes on a spaceship drifting in the 51st century, the Tenth Doctor and his friends are surprised to find an 18th-century French fireplace, through which the Time Lord meets Reinette, aka Madame de Pompadour (Sophia Myles)—the mistress of King Louis XV.

William Shakespeare

“The Shakespeare Code,” 2007

Dean Lennox Kelly as William Shakespeare (via BBC)

The Tenth Doctor takes his new traveling companion Martha Jones on her first trip in space and time. Their destination: the Globe Theater in 1599, where they chance upon playwright William Shakespeare (Dean Lennox Kelly), under a spell by three witchy Carrionites to rewrite the end of his play and set free the rest of the Carrionite race.

Agatha Christie

“The Unicorn and the Wasp,” 2008

Fenella Woolgar as Agatha Christie (via BBC)

Set in an English manor house in 1926, this murder-mystery finds the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble at a dinner party with Agatha Christie (Fenella Woolgar) on the day the crime novelist inexplicably disappears for 10 days. They can’t meddle with history, but they can help defeat a giant shape-shifting wasp.

Vincent van Gogh

“Vincent and the Doctor,” 2010

Tony Curran as Vincent van Gogh (via BBC)

Intrigued by an ominous figure in one of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings, the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy Pond travel back in time to meet the artist (Tony Curran). Their attempt, however, to show van Gogh his legacy by bringing him to the future proves some evils are out of the Doctor’s reach.

Winston Churchill

“Victory of the Daleks,” 2010; “The Wedding of River Song,” 2011

Ian McNeice as Winston Churchill (via BBC)

The Eleventh Doctor and Amy arrive in London during the Blitz, where Winston Churchill (Ian McNeice) has employed Daleks as weapons in the war effort. The former British Prime Minister, meanwhile, makes a subsequent appearance in an alternate timeline as Holy Roman Emperor.

Richard Nixon

“The Impossible Astronaut”/”Day of the Moon,” 2011

Stuart Milligan as Richard Nixon (via BBC)

Tricky Dick first surfaces in a short prequel scene, in which the 37th President of the United States (Stuart Milligan) receives a phone call from a little girl begging him to look behind him. He later briefly encounters the Eleventh Doctor, on a quest to find the girl.

Henry Avery

“The Curse of the Black Spot,” 2011

Hugh Bonneville as Henry Avery (via BBC)

Following a distress signal, the TARDIS lands aboard a 17th-century pirate ship, captained by Henry Avery (Hugh Bonneville). An English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian oceans in the mid-1690s, Avery, “The King of Pirates,” probably used several aliases, including Benjamin Bridgeman, and was known as Long Ben to associates.

Queen Nefertiti

“Dinosaurs on a Spaceship,” 2012

Rian Steele as Queen Nefertiti (via BBC)

While in 1334 BC Egypt with Queen Nefertiti (Rian Steele), the Eleventh Doctor gets a call from the future about a spaceship about to crash into Earth. Taking the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten with him, the Time Lord once more saves the day. Neferneferuaten Nefertiti was made famous by her bust, one of the most copied works of ancient Egypt.